Bill and Diane Kirkpatrick were initially concerned, but not worried. It was shortly after 11:00 on the evening of March 15, 1989. Although Tracy, their seventeen-year-old daughter, was scheduled to get off work at 9:00, she had not returned or called home. In recent days, Tracy had been having trouble with her car, and her parents believed it had likely broken down again and that their always-determined daughter was trying to fix it.

By 11:30, however, worry began to set in. As the Kirkpatricks drove closer to the Westridge Shopping Center in Frederick, Maryland, seventy miles north of Washington, D.C. A crowd of people was gathered around aileen Ladies Sportswear, the retail store where Tracy worked part time as a sales clerk. Panic then struck as they saw several police cars with lights flashing. Bill and Diane thought the store had been robbed and that police were interviewing their daughter. The truth was far worse.

After Bill parked their car, he and Diane dashed to the store, only to be stopped by policemen. In front of the store the Kirkpatricks saw the yellow tape saying “Crime Scene Do Not Cross.” When a shocked Diane asked if her daughter was all right, a policeman quietly and dejectedly said “no.”

The store had not been robbed; it was instead the scene of a murder. Tracy Kirkpatrick had been stabbed to death. She is believed to have been killed by someone she knew, but thirty-four years later, the culprit has not been identified.

Tracy Kirkpatrick

Tracy Kirkpatrick was a high school senior who lived in Point of Rocks, a small town fifteen miles southwest of Frederick. She had worked at the store for only a month through a work study program.

As the evening of March 15 was Tracy’s first at tallying the day’s receipts and closing the store alone, Diane and the store manager had stopped in the store at different points in the evening. A man waiting for his wife saw Tracy at approximately 8:45 p.m., fifteen minutes before closing time. He noticed no one else in the store, nor did he see anything unusual.

As he was making his rounds that evening, mall security guard Don Barnes, Jr. noticed the lights were still on in the store well after the closing time of 9:00. He said he assumed the worker was still inside finishing her tasks. When he saw the lights still on at approximately 11:00, he decided to investigate.

Don says the store’s front door was unlocked and that he called out as he entered, but received no response. He then walked through the store and found Tracy lying in a pool of blood in the backroom.

Murdered At The Mall

No sales in the cash register had been recorded after 8:00, and the day’s cash receipts were on the counter. Even though Tracy’s purse was missing, robbery was ruled out as a motive after an accounting check the following day confirmed no money had been taken.

Because there were no signs of forced entry into the store, police believe the killer was likely someone Tracy knew who either arrived at the store shortly before it closed or someone whom she felt comfortable letting in after closing time.

Likely Not A Random Murder 

Tracy had been stabbed seven times. The killer is believed to have caught her off guard because the initial stab wounds had been to her back. The subsequent fatal stab wounds had been made to her chest, but the wounds to the back had likely rendered her incapacitated.

Tracy had not been sexually assaulted and there were no indications of a struggle anywhere in the store. The murder weapon was never found.

The only physical evidence found in the store were numerous latent finger prints. They were off little value, however, because the crime scene was a retail store frequented by many patrons.

Stabbed To Death

The first significant lead in Tracy Kirkpatrick’s murder surfaced three months later in an unusual manner.

In June 1989, a man called a nationwide confession hotline in Las Vegas. He said his name was “Don,” that he was from Frederick, Maryland, and that he had murdered a young woman named Tracy. The caller said he knew her casually and killed her after they had an argument in the back room of a clothing store. Don said he had considered turning himself in but decided not to because he feared being given the death penalty.

 

A Caller Claims

He Killed Tracy

The call was traced to a pay-phone at the Safeway Supermarket in Walkersville, Maryland, eight miles north of Frederick.

After listening to call, the sincerity in the man’s voice and the knowledge he displayed about Tracy’s murder convinced police he was likely the killer and that he wanted to be caught. A letter composed by police asking the caller to contact them was published in the Frederick News-Post on October 10, but it elicited no response.

Two weeks later, on October 24, the case took another odd turn as police were contacted by Martha Woodworth, a Massachusetts woman reputed to be a psychic. She said she had been contacted several times by a young man identifying himself only as “Sean.” Martha said he seemed obsessed with finding Tracy Kirkpatrick’s killer.

At Martha’s request, Sean sent her several newspaper articles about the crime. After speaking with him on several occasions, Martha told police she felt he may have a stronger involvement in the murder than being a curious citizen.

After listening to the call made by “Don” to the confession hotline, Martha was certain the voice was the same as Sean’s. The return address on the envelope Sean had sent Martha showed the letter had been mailed in Walkersville, Maryland, the same town Don said he was from in the call to the Las Vegas hotline.

The man living at the address was not named Don or Sean, but police determined he had been the person who mailed Martha the newspaper clippings about Tracy’s murder. The man’s actions were suspicious but not enough to charge him with the crime.

A Second Suspect Emerges

On the first anniversary of Tracy’s murder, police asked a local DJ to play the confession tape. Following its broadcast, three people called the police, believing they recognized the man’s voice. The name all three callers provided was the man from Walkersville who lived at the return address on the letters mailed to Martha Woodworth.

The following day, having been granted a warrant, police searched the man’s home. They found many newspaper articles about the police investigation of Tracy’s murder but could find no evidence connecting him to the crime. They also could not prove the man was at the mall on the night of the murder or find any evidence that he knew Tracy. He ultimately pleaded the Fifth Amendment and refused to answer any questions.

Another Dead End

Investigators believe Tracy Kirkpatrick was murdered by someone she knew and likely considered a friend. Don Barnes, the security guard who found her body, is considered a suspect. I could not find a picture of him.

Barnes was a sheriff’s deputy who was moonlighting as the mall’s security guard. He was said to be attracted to younger women and was believed to have known Tracy casually. Some believe he may have tried to develop a relationship with her and, when rejected, killed her in a rage. Barnes’ daughter claimed he was abusive towards her and her mother, from whom Barnes was estranged at the time.

Tracy was last seen at 8:45 p.m. and Barnes reported finding her body at 11:00. His daughter said he picked up a new suit from his estranged wife in between the time when Tracy was murdered and when he reported finding her body. The daughter believes her dad did so because of the blood stains on his clothes resulting from his stabbing Tracy and that he discarded evidence during the two hours from when Tracy was last seen to when he reported finding her body.

As a deputy, Barnes had experience in crime scene investigations. His father was the police chief, whom some have suggested covered up evidence in the case. The allegations have not been confirmed, and Don Barnes, Jr. has never been charged in connection with Tracy Kirkpatrick’s murder.

Another man several years older than Tracy who, police say, also sought a romantic relationship with her, is another suspect. He had formerly worked with Tracy at another job, and he lived in Frederick at the time of the murder. This unidentified man was indicted by a grand jury in May 1994, but the county attorney, believing the evidence against him to be insufficient, declined to prosecute him.

Another person called a “potential suspect” in Tracy’s murder is her boyfriend. The two had gotten back together only days before following a messy breakup.

A retired investigator who worked on Tracy’s case stated he believes he knows the identity of her killer. The former detective says evidence was botched at the crime scene and that several investigators involved in the case did not fulfill their job duties sufficiently.

A Crime Of Passion?

I have not been able to find anything stating if investigators believe it is only a coincidence that the man calling the confession hotline called himself Don and that a suspect in Tracy’s murder is also named Don. I was also unable to find any source stating if the person calling himself Sean, who was determined to have mailed the newspaper clippings about Tracy’s murder to Martha Woodworth, knew Don Barnes, Jr.

Most retailers today have their businesses equipped with video technology. In 1989, I do not believe it was yet the norm, and I could not find anything stating that if aileen Ladies Sportswear had security cameras.

No Answers

In the hopes of developing a genetic profile of Tracy’s killer, samples of blood drops found in a rear hallway of the store leading to a loading dock and trash bins were submitted for testing in 1998 and 2003, but they were deemed insufficient both times. I could not find anything stating the source of the blood drops. Apparently, all though no signs of a struggle were found at the store, investigators believe the blood drops are the killer’s.

In 2009, touch DNA samples were submitted for testing. Also known as Trace DNA or Low Copy Number DNA, touch DNA is an advanced and fairly new crime scene investigation technique used to collect and analyze microscopic transfer cells left behind during the commission of a crime. So far, the results have produced nothing substantive toward identifying the killer.

DNA Tests

Tracy Lynn Kirkpatrick was murdered in Frederick, Maryland, on March 15, 1989, when she was seventeen-years-old. No one has been charged with the crime.

If you believe you have any information relating to her murder, please contact the Frederick, Maryland, Police Department at (301) 600-2100.

Who Killed Tracy Kirkpatrick?

aileen Lady’s Sportswear is no longer in operation. The building in which Tracy Kirkpatrick was working when she was murdered is now occupied by a business called Sally Beauty.

The Store Where Tracy Was Murdered 

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/9588951/tracy-lynn-kirkpatrick#

SOURCES:

• Baltimore Sun
• Cumberland Times-News
• Frederick News-Post
• Seattle Times
• Washington Post